Friday, September 12, 2008

The C Word

Cancer has hit my family :( I got an email from my mom last Friday asking me to call her when I got a chance, something had come up. Now, I get nervous when I get a phone call from her since I always think it's something bad....this email made me nervous. So I called her. She told me that my step dad had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Holy shit!

She didn't know too many details last week, just that his check up tests had been coming back with some abnormal readings for a while and his doctors decided to do some other tests and finally found a tumor, had a biopsy done and the test came back positive for cancer. Good thing is, they caught it early and it's only at stage 2.

Yesterday they met with the surgeon and Jim was given a bunch of options and he opted for surgery to remove the entire prostate gland, he's having a prostatectomy. They now have to wait 6 weeks after he had the biopsy in order for every to heal up to avoid infections and then he'll have the surgery, it's already been 2 weeks so he only has 4 weeks to wait.

Everyone is taking it pretty well, it's not a death sentence since it was caught early and Jim has a few friends that have had this procedure done and have made a 100% cancer free recovery. I have read that removing the prostate gland may have some side effects but it's better than having cancer.

I'm just glad he's really good about getting his yearly check ups, most men aren't and his doctor was able to find the cancer before it spread to other organs. Early detection IS the key!

-Kim

6 comments:

Carey said...

Once again I'm sorry for the difficult news but it seems like things are under control and your Step-Dad will be just fine. I know what you mean about men not seeing their docs for thier annual checkups, they can be so stubborn. It's strange to me because as women, we're trained to go once a year it seems like men should get the same training.

Unknown said...

After the word got out 4 of Jim's friends made appointments right away to get their "PSA" tests. Everyone was surprised because Jim keeps in shape, works out / walking/ running and is in great shape (for his age). God is watching over us. - MOM

Kim said...

I know that Jim will make a full recovery mainly because he takes such good care of himself and because you, mom are so strong. He's lucky to have you in his corner :)

Tracy said...

crappy! i'm so sorry to hear that... but it sounds like your step-dad is a smart and healthy individual and will pull thru this super strong, especially with (what sounds like) the amazing support you and your mom give him! my thoughts go out to you and your fam!!

Unknown said...

Sounds like the prognosis is good. Thank goodness for that. My father was a prostate cancer survivor and was cancer free for the remainder of his life. Sounds like the Doc made a good early catch.

Best wishes for your family.

Dave L.

Kim said...

Wow, Dave! I had no idea. I know that Jim will also be a cancer survivor :)